Photos By Gail
The Poured Armchair (1964) is a notable piece of furniture designed by Gunnar Aagaard Andersen, a Danish artist and designer known for his innovative approach to materials and forms. The chair is a prime example of the experimental and boundary-pushing design aesthetic prevalent in mid-20th century Scandinavian design.
Continue reading Eye On Design: Poured Armchair By Gunnar Aagaard Andersen
Modular Man Illustration Circa 1955 (Photo By Gail)
In 1945, the architect Le Corbusier (born Charles-Edouard Jeanneret) introduced the Modulor, a proportional system for design intended to function as “a harmonious measure to the human scale” and illustrated by a 5-foot-9-inches tall silhouette, drawn in an active posture with one arm raised.
Continue reading Eye On Design: Le Corbusier, The Modulor Man
All Photos By Gail
In 1987, American artist Mike Kelley (1954 –2012), known for his provocative and often unsettling artworks exploring themes of American popular culture, childhood, and trauma, began to make sculptures from stuffed animals. Kelley described the toys as “the adult’s perfect model of a child”– cute, clean, sexless.” However, Kelley’s plush toys, purchased secondhand from thrift stores and yard sales, were discarded and soiled from use. Seemingly beyond redemption, they are darkly humorous monuments to lost innocence and repressed emotions.
Continue reading Mike Kelley’s Deodorized Central Mass with Satellites
Photos By Gail
Downtown New York has hosted generations of underground cultural communities, providing a vibrant home for drag queens, theater performers, filmmakers, and outcasts. Performance artist and queer liberation activist Agosto Machado has been a long-standing figure in these scenes. Over five decades, he has amassed a large collection of art and ephemera from the city’s counterculture, which he assembles into shrines, such as the one seen above. Continue reading Modern Art Monday Presents: Shrine (White) By Agosto Machado
Photos By Gail
Manufactured by the Viennese firm J & J Kohn, this elaborate child’s cradle (Model 1573, circa 1895) would have been lined with cushions to create a soft, sheltered, egg-shaped bed for an infant. The curved design, featuring a long vertical arm to support draped netting, reflect the style of art nouveau – an international art, and design movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Continue reading Eye On Design: Child’s Cradle By J & J Kohn